Speeches

First of all, Mr. Speaker, can I thank you for the opportunity to address again this distinguished gathering. As you know I take the view since I have arrived here that appearing before the parliaments of BiH and of being available to answer questions is part of the accountability which I hope to have as High Representative toward elected represe [...]

There’s always a danger with events like these that people offer sage advice which may be true and valuable in their own theatre, but which is wholly out of placed and misplaced in another. Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and now Iraq have taught us that each situation is different, and requires different solutions. But there are some common themes, [...]

Almost nine years after Dayton, Bosnia has secured a substantial degree of stability, and major State-level institution-building is now underway in a number of areas (Defense, Intelligence, Police, State Court, and Revenue Collection to name just a few). A US-led, multinational force has effectively provided the extended breathing space that was n [...]

I am very grateful for this opportunity to speak to the Commission as you embark on your assessment of the conformity of the Constitution of BiH with the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and your examination of the role of the so called Bonn Powers. I welcome the fact that the Commission is carrying out this [...]

Richard Branson (CEO of Virgin Airlines), who knows more than a little about how to run a successful organization, has made the illuminating observation that, and I quote: “It all comes down to people, nothing else even comes close.” Yet, as far as the Stability Pact is concerned, it all comes down to systems.

Perhaps the most surprising thing about today’s meeting is the topic itself and the ease with which we think and talk about it. European integration isn’t a distant dream – it now sets the parameters for day-to-day policy in BiH; it provides a coherent structure to the huge reform effort that has noticeably gathered pace in the course of the last [...]

Today we mark a further small milestone in BiH’s progress towards becoming a normal state. The fact we are able to do so owes everything to the work of the hundreds, indeed the thousands of soldiers who have served here at Camp McGovern.

This is certainly easier said than done, of course, but for BiH the answer to the first question is clear. The destination is Europe. That’s more than just an agreed framework for reconstruction. It is a goal that can motivate the people of BiH to make the sacrifices necessary to transform their society, their economy, and their political system in [...]

I will be very brief. This Mostar’s belovedOldBridge has been the subject of every kind of comment today. It is testimony to the extraordinary nature of this bridge that so many have gathered here today, from so many countries, to celebrate what its reconstruction says about Bosnia and Herzegovina, about coexistence, and about the triumph of hope [...]

There are, just occasionally in the life of countries, moments so imbued with political symbolism – so overtly laden with historical significance – that they come, in time, to encapsulate, more than the mere event they represent, to encapsulate an era. The dismantling of the Berlin Wall. The collapse of the ‘twin towers’ of the World Trade C [...]